News

At a regional summit focused on combating wildlife crime, African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) CEO Patrick Bergin called for the political will to prosecute wildlife crime at all levels of society, from the poacher to the corrupt government official.

On November 7 and 8, the country that has arguably become ground zero for elephant poaching in Africa will host a summit aimed at intensifying the regional response to wildlife crime in East Africa, while also encouraging greater cross-border collaboration on wildlife management.

Even as it urges the U.S. government and lion range countries to do more to protect the African lion, African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) welcomes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS’s) proposal to list Africa’s largest cat as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to tighten regulations around the importation of lion trophies resulting from legal sport hunts in Africa.

As news broke of the U.S. government’s indictment of Dawie and Janneman Groenewald, two South African brothers charged with allegedly operating a rhino horn trafficking syndicate, African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) CEO and member of the President’s Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking, Dr. Patrick Bergin, released this statement: